This Christ-centered blog is designed to serve stroke survivors, families and friends, through sharing experience and faith. My own stroke came on May 8, 1998. God provided medical professionals, friends, fellow believers, and strength to get me through some struggling recovery times.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

They found that between 2001 and 2008, it typically cost U.S. hospitals $14,100 (in 2008 dollars) to care for a tPA patient who had a "good outcome." If the patient suffered serious complications from the stroke or died, the typical cost was around $19,000.

But the average Medicare payment for patients with a good outcome was $10,000, and just over $13,800 for patients who had disabling strokes.

In an earlier study, the same researchers had found that hospitals generally lose money on Medicare reimbursements for another stroke treatment - endovascular embolectomy, in which doctors go in and extract the blood clot causing the stroke.

... But over the long term, some hospitals might decide they don't want to invest in being stroke treatment centers.

"It could affect availability (of tPA) if some hospitals lose interest in treating a disease they are losing money on," Cloft said.

"A physicians shortage is a big part of it," said Northwest Medical Center Emergency Medical Director Dr. Katherine Barton. "Unfortunately, some parts of our state are very poor. There's just not always enough access to physicians like people need. There's not education about strokes that we need to have out there. And there's a lot of cardiovascular disease in our state because of a lot of obesity and smoking."

When it comes to strokes, time is everything.

"The more time that passes, the more damage that's done, the more brain cells that die and the more of your function you cannot get back," said Barton.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

A great story - and a reminder that quick response can make a huge difference for stroke patients - comes form Oregon, where a man's quick-acting wife and skilled doctors affected his recovery. Here's a snipped, but you should read the whole thing:

Around 7:15 a.m., 75 minutes after the first stroke symptoms, tPA began dripping into a vein in Steve's right arm. Within 15 minutes, his "word salad" disappeared. He could speak clearly.

As the intravenous drip continued, an ambulance drove Steve to Providence St. Vincent, so neurologists could observe him, and try to determine what caused the stroke.

About 48 hours later, on Thursday, Steve still wore blue pajama pants and a less-than-cozy hospital gown. But his shoes stood nearby as he waited to be discharged. Even doctors were stunned by his swift recovery, his speech and memory restored.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Not all post-stroke disabilities are easy to detect - sometimes adding to recovery difficulties. One recent article discussed how better detection of the "hidden" disabilities can help stroke survivors get help they need:

Health workers detecting the condition after a stroke could make cognitive intervention to improve the patient’s function and prevent chronic disability, according to Anna Barrett, M.D.. She is the director of Stroke Rehabilitation at the [Kessler] Foundation.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Did you know that 80% of all strokes can be prevented? Strokes have the reputation of randomly striking out of nowhere. But you have more control to prevent strokes from happening than you might think. Here are our top ten prevention tips.

Regular readers of this blog will know some if not all of these, but this list is a good set of reminders.

If a stroke has left you with lingering language problems, called aphasia, you might recover some limited abilities on your own. However, you'll probably need speech-language therapy for the best possible improvement. Fortunately, experts know more today than ever before about treating aphasia effectively. Here are 10 essential facts about the most up-to-date treatment strategies.

I watched, once again, Dick Clark struggle with aphasia as 2012 began over last weekend. More power to him!

Note to readers

This blog stands for faith in God and better stroke awareness. Everyone should be aware of stroke signs and know what to do. The life you save may be your own. Toward that end, stroke survivors and families are invited to share comments or stories. This is not designed to give anyone medical advice - we might talk about stroke care in general but always, always seek appropriate medical advice.